066: The WHP Team on All Things Podcasting Part 2: Show Notes, Resources and the Future of Podcasting
Curious about what the Wild Home Podcasting team thinks of the future of the podcast industry? Listen in to hear part two as I am again joined by a few of my team members to talk all about podcasting.
In this episode, we dive into the common areas that we notice that podcasters could improve upon. You’ll also get more insight into show notes, why their important and how you can use them to get the most benefit for your podcast and to help your listeners. This episode brought tons of resources to light so be sure to listen in and check those out!
What’s in this episode:
Common areas that podcasters can improve upon
What you need to know about show notes
Our thoughts on the future of podcasting
Links:
064: 3 Ways to Add Video to Your Podcast Strategy
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The Transcript:
066: The WHP Team on All Things Podcasting Part 2: Show Notes, Resources and the Future of Podcasting
Caroline Hello, and welcome back to the Wild Home Podcast. I am so excited to be bringing you part two of the episode that I did with the team at Wild Home Podcast. We're going to dove into a lot more topics around podcasting and some of the things that we see since we work on so many podcasts every week. So definitely make sure you go back and listen to part one if you have not listened to Part two and if you have a question that you want the team to tackle. Stay tuned for the end of the episode and I will tell you exactly how to send your questions in. All right, let's doive in.
Welcome to the Wild Home Podcast, where we talk about podcasting, life and all the wild in between. Joining me, Caroline, every week as I share a peek into the world of podcasting and my wildlife as well. Ready. Let's get into it.
So we're going to kind of switch gears a little bit because we all have so much experience listening to podcasts, editing podcasts, writing show notes for podcasts. I thought it would be interesting to kind of touch on some of the common. I don't want to say mistakes, but some of the common things we see that we think that people can improve upon. And my whole purpose in having the team talk about this kind of stuff is that I want you to be able to listen to it and say, Oh, that's something easy I can do today to make a difference. Granted, you know, there is a lot that we can fix, and every once in a while, there's something that we can't. And so I thought it would be fun if we just started with audio and maybe some of the common situations that we experience when we're editing or processing audio and how we think people could fix them. Or maybe we could also kind of frame it as why it would be important to address these issues if you have them.
Alli I think that's something that especially newer podcasters underestimate. Sometimes that is the value of like sitting still while you record. I think that when I edit, I often like I can pick like I'm like, I know what you're doing. Like, I know that you have your computer on a desk that wobbles or you're in a chair that you're kind of like bouncing up and down. Or if you have a standing mic, maybe you are like your hands talker and your hands are kind of creating wind in front of the microphone. Or if you are using your Apple headphones that have the microphone built in, maybe you're like moving around so much that it's creating a weird audio effect. So none of that is meant to make anybody feel silly. I think we maybe sometimes just don't realize like how sensitive our mikes are or which is a good thing because it allows us to create really high quality podcasts without a lot of investment. But if you're frustrated with the end result of your podcast, I would really consider like your setup. Can you find a place where you can be more stationary? Can you sort of sit on your hands if you are a hands talker? Can you lean back a little bit from your mikes so that you're not like spitting on it? Quite so much like these are things that I've had to figure out as a podcast or anything that I say here, like these are all things that I've done. So trust me, I know it's hard, and I think you'll be amazed by how much better it sounds like. As an editor, we can remove a lot of that stuff. But if you're saying something brilliant and I'm getting a weird like wind noise over your mike, I can't really take that out because your brilliance is like way more important than that. Wind noise is distracting. So just like making those small adjustments to your setup can go a long way to making your show sound professional and clean.
Caroline Oh my gosh, that is such a great tip. I literally have been thinking about this for myself because my set up right now is not working. My desk makes so much noise. She's laughing because she knows, because when they edit my podcast, it sounds terrible because I need a new microphone and a new desk. I literally have an episode coming to you guys. At some point where I was, I was very nervous because it's a topic that is very difficult for me to talk about. I'm excited about it coming out, but also nervous, so I was shaking the whole time. And so my knee was shaking and because I like to sit cross-legged in my chair, my knee is hitting the desk. And so I'm pretty sure for the entirety of the episode, there's going to be a little tap. Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap. So I will work in the processing software and try and get that out for you guys before I send it to you. They're all making a face. I wish you could see them. They're all like, "Oh my gosh," and they're laughing. But yeah, no, it's really true. You know, it's funny when you think, Oh, if I just have a popsicle, turn a microphone and I'll be totally fine. And I constantly hit the microphone because I talk with my hands, or I'll get distracted by my pen sitting here and start clicking it. We hear that a lot too is pins clicking. And a lot of times if it's a a client that's doing an interview, like we don't really worry so much about the guest because a lot of times people who are gusting may not have all the podcasting experience, right? And so that's fine. Like, we can clean that. That's fine. But we like our interviewers to be consistent across the board. And so thinking about how we can make you always on the best you can be. And if that means like changing up the setup a little bit, that's always super helpful.
Alyssa N. One thing if you do have a guest and a lot of people have guests or they'll have like multiple hosts whenever possible, we can edit so much more stuff out if you record in multiple tracks like thanks so much background. Noise we can take out, we can take out more pauses. We can adjust like when people talk over each other without losing it. Brilliant insights from either person like you can do so much if we have multiple tracks and we can do a lot with a single track, but it is a lot harder and there's going to always be things that we can't get that we could get otherwise. So multiple tracks also don't be afraid to use your mute button in Zoom, especially if, like you asked the question, and then you've got to click your pen like hit the mute button and click away, because that won't get picked up.
Caroline We all cheered for the individual track comment. That's something we strive for all the time. Can we have individual tracks? Pretty, please. Thank you. Lacy, did you have anything to add to that?
Lacey Yeah, similar. I was actually going to say exactly what Alyssa said about the individual tracks. But another thing as far as when you're working with a guest or something, it's easy to just kind of get into conversation and get excited and you trip and things like that. It does make it sound a little better if you try not to talk over each other when you're excited. Of course we can edit, but you know, jumping in and out, it can make the audio kind of hard to understand what what is happening for your listener. If you guys are kind of bouncing back and forth, especially if we don't have the two tracks.
Caroline It's funny because we want our podcast to be conversational and natural, like I don't ever want anybody to come to an interview and feel like they have to be robotic. But there are just some of these small little things that I even kind of pay attention to. Like, if you find yourself constantly interrupting your guest, you know, maybe try to hit that mute button and wait until they're done. And, you know, have your editor fixed deposits later because I know sometimes, especially me, when I'm talking to people and interviewing them, I will get so excited at my response because it's going to be brilliant and I can't wait to share it and I will inevitably, like, cut them off because I'm so excited. And so that's something I really had to work on when we were doing interviews all the time. I had a podcast with a co-host, so we had the co-host and then also the guest. And so that was something we really had to be mindful of. And that was where I like recording the video, like being on Zoom was really helpful because we could take like body language cues from each other and kind of watch that. Like, I, you know, I would know when Kelly was wrapping up what she was going to say and, you know, we'd be able to kind of watch the guests and see that as well. We kind of give each other the eye before one of us would start the next question after the guest had finished. And so we've had. It's interesting because we can tell the difference or I can definitely tell difference when we have podcasters who interview their guests on video versus when they don't. And so if that if that's something that you're wondering about, should I use Zoom? I always highly recommend it. And you can record in another place as well. But I just think it really helps the conversation and the flow when you can see each other and interact that way as well. Well, these are all really great audio tips. I feel like this is like an email newsletter in the making or something you're going to have to get some really good show notes. So speaking of which, let's chat about show notes for a minute. We only have one of our writers here, Claire and Erin. We miss you. But I think, you know, Alyssa and I review a lot of the show notes to you and Alyssa N. does a lot of the scheduling with the show notes, and so we kind of have a good perspective on how they're being used. And so I wanted to kind of chat for a minute about I think, well, I think that the very first like common mistake we see with show notes is not using them, having them written, writing them yourself and then only using them in the description of the episode. Don't you guys agree? I always feels like such a waste to me. I just think it's such a useful marketing tool. And then let's kind of go back a minute and think about the clients who come to us who either have been writing their own show notes or haven't had somebody write their show notes before. What are some of the things that you see that you're like, really excited to improve upon for them?
Alyssa B. For me, I think both as a consumer and someone who's writing the show notes or other podcasts, like using them to create that curiosity, it's going to get someone to click play. Like sometimes you read somebody's show notes and you're like, Well, I don't really need to listen to the episode now. So I got everything I needed. All of these like bullet points. So like leaving things a little open ended to create a little bit of curiosity, a bit of actually listening. And you can always, you know, improve upon and expand upon your show notes for your blog post to include more information and include your transcript. But don't be afraid to leave it a little bit like a little bit to the imagination. I think.
Caroline I love that, and that's why we write two versions of show notes, folks. When we write show notes for our clients, we always have a version for the feed and then a version for the blog. And they may be very similar. There may not be much difference, depending on the client and what their needs are. But I love that creating curiosity. It's so smart, thank you.
Alyssa N. I know this is going to seem like really obvious, and I know it's the thing that we Wild Home Podcasting and really try and do for everything. But it's shocking to me how often I look into show notes for something, for a podcast I'm listening to. And somewhat, I'll have a guest and like the name of the guest, is not anywhere in the show notes and links to their website or their social media are not anywhere in the show notes. Or they'll, like, talk about a book, and it's not in the show notes like just that. Really like little stuff like things that you reference that you know about. Just put them in there because those are probably things that people are going to want. And like I know we spend a lot of time researching to like, make sure we have our links and all of our social handles and like the name spelled correctly. And that goes a really long way because it's frustrating when you know you hear someone's name, but like, maybe didn't catch it the first time, it's hard to go back into a podcast and find that. But if it's in, the show notes, it's going to be much easier for your audience to reference.
Alyssa B. It's insane how many book recommendations I've gotten from the podcasts I listen to and whether or not that does anything for the host. Like for me as a listener of more like, yes, I want more and more and more. And yeah, guests like they're kind of doing you a solid being on. So everybody's going to appreciate those links to their socials and stuff.
Alyssa N. Yeah. If I can get book recommendations from a podcast, I am much more like likely to come back and listen to that podcast again.
Caroline Book recommendations, folks. Yeah. And I think, you know, with the book recommendations, a lot of I think one thing that people are people under utilize a lot. And I'm not saying that it's like going to change your life. I mean, who knows, but you know, there's Amazon. I feel affiliate links are really great. And so I always like recommend to our clients who are putting tens of like product recommendations and stuff to use affiliate links. And you can always do an asterix that says "these are affiliate links," but I think that's always an underutilized opportunity.
Alli Amazon Affiliates is really great, and you can link to any product through your Amazon affiliate profile, but I also like to use bookshop.org. I have a podcast, so I tend to use a lot of affiliate links for books and of my show notes. And the cool thing about Bookshop.org is that it supports independent bookstores and you can create like a storefront with different book lists, and then you can link out to that from your Instagram bio. So it becomes a cool resource that you can then refer listeners back to, as well as using the like direct to book affiliate links. And it does feel good is for independent bookstores. But I also have made more money as a bookshop dot org affiliate than I ever made as an Amazon affiliate. So just something to think about if you are somebody who tends to do more book length than like other links, which I guess it makes more sense on Amazon.
Caroline No. I love that because I always like want to support independent booksellers and things like that, and I always default to Amazon just because it's so easy. So I love having another option. That's awesome. Thanks for sharing that. The other thing about shownotes that also I wrote that down because I'm going to have to make a bookstore front. I think that's brilliant,.
Alli Libro.fm is if you want to do audio books and support independent book stores. Yeah. So if you don't want to do Audible.
Caroline We will link all of that in the show notes. I think the other thing too, that's so interesting about shownotes that I see all the time, and I think for me, it's like a no brainer. But then I'll be talking to people and they just didn't think about it. And that's taking your show notes. And like, we've been talking about writing a blog post, but actually putting them on your website as a blog post with an embedded players that people can click, play and listen to the podcast right there. And then especially for our business owners who are using podcasts as part of the marketing instead of sending people out into the interwebs when they're like saying, like, go look at the show notes or go follow me on Apple, like actually directing people to your website, to listen to the podcast episodes and to interact with the show notes there I think is so key and so important. There's so much more you can put there, and it also will benefit your website from a blog post to be there. And I cannot tell you how many times we will come across like somebody who's not doing that with our show notes and I'll be like, Hey, you should put this on your blog, and they're like, I didn't think about that. And it's just like I said, it seems like a no brainer, but just add that step to your process, so important. Any anything else with shownotes.
Lacey I was going to mention, I know I'm just the editor here, but I do write a lot of shownotes. Something I always recommend everybody has is a good call to action. .
Caroline Yes please. Thank you.
Lacey Yeah, yeah. Something to get your listeners into your world a little more. Get them on your email list. Get them to your website. Get them checking out your your products, something like that just to pull them into your orbit a little more and turn them, you know, if you're doing it for business from a listener to a happy customer. So I just think that's a really good, you know, put it in your episode. At the end and then make sure you link it in your show notes.
Caroline Yeah, and don't ask them to do five things like ask them to do one thing like what is the one thing you want people to do when they're done listening to your episode? And that's where having that schedule and knowing what your marketing schedule is and incorporating that into your podcast schedule is going to be really helpful and beneficial. So that way you can think, OK, what is the call to action for? That's going to be what is the one thing I'm going to want them to do? How do I want them to interact with me after the episode? Thank you. That was. That's good. We usually when we were going through the launch process with our clients, that's like one of the main things we talked to them about, especially when they're kind of in that inception process of like, what is this podcast going to look like? How is it going to benefit my business? I will constantly say to them, like, what is the one thing you want them to do and let, let's make sure we put that everywhere in that way, you know, because what did they say? They used to be seven touchpoints before somebody would buy from you was what they would say in marketing. And now we laugh and say it's like 50. Maybe it's more than that now. I don't know. Attention spans, who knows? But you know, it's important that it's in a lot of places and that you're sharing it and making sure it goes in, the show notes. So love that. Awesome. OK, so as we kind of wrap up this conversation, I wanted to hear your thoughts on what you think the future of podcasting is. We're in a very interesting phase. I think of podcasting and the history and the conversation of podcasting. You know, we always say when I say we, I mean, like people in the podcasting producing side of the world, we always talk about how it's like the Wild West and how we're still like making up rules. We're still trying to figure out how it works. You know, there's constantly things changing like right now was last year, the big the big update was, you know, Apple and Spotify introducing subscriptions. And I think sometimes it can get really overwhelming, especially, you know, because what we love about podcasting is that anyone can do it and now it's starting to kind of shift and change. And so when we think about like the future of podcasting, I definitely think that the independent aspect of it is going to stay. I know it's been like a really like, there's been a lot of conversations about this, especially with Spotify and some of the other ones, how they're monetizing with like big name podcasters and things like that. But I think the core and the heart of podcasting is always going to be independent podcasters. What do you guys think?
Alyssa B. I think that like the video aspect or including video as an option with your podcast is becoming a huge thing. Personally, most of the new podcasts I've listened to, I found on TikTok because people are recording them, filming their podcasts and then cutting down little tiny clips. And either they have like an insane insight or a hilarious moment with a guest. And that's what gets me hooked, and that's what gets me listening to the last 100 of their episodes in a week. So I think that including video or starting to play around with video, even if you don't host the whole podcast episode anywhere, it's just another way you can market in another way to grab people's attention.
Caroline Yeah, I completely agree with you. In fact, I think a week before this episode airs, I did a whole episode on video because I'm not only seeing it more with podcasters and how they're promoting their podcasts, but it's just coming up in conversation a lot more. And I think because there are so many new platforms that are incorporating video, there's the fireside one. I don't know anything about these guys. I haven't tried them. So if I say something wrong about them, I don't know. I did clubhouse for like a hot minute and was like, This is not for me. Live audio where like, I'm in my kitchen trying to make dinner and somebody like Caroline, what's your opinion on this? I'm like, No, no, no, no. This is not the moment, you know, that's just not the thing for me. And then there's another one that I just read about that another big podcasting company is investing in. And so we're kind of seeing this like movement of investing in video in it becoming more part of the conversation. We're having a lot more clients ask us about video and if that's something we do, which we do a little bit, see services for more details. And so I do think that this video component is going to become more important. But I I think that it's going to be one of those things where it's going to have to work for your audience and for you. Like, I don't necessarily know that my audience wants to watch a YouTube video of me sitting here talking about podcasting. I'm not sure. I don't know. Maybe I'll try it, but I do think like, you know, it would be super great if I could figure out how to use TikTok like a young person and really aging myself right now because I do see the value in it and I do see how popular it is becoming. So I think you're absolutely right, and I think that having some sort of video in your strategy is going to be really important in the future.
Alli I also think there's a lot of value in building intentional community around your podcast because there are so many podcasts and I don't. I agree that I don't think like the market is oversaturated or anything, but I think that people are becoming like super fans of podcasts in the same way that we grew up being super fans of TV shows like this is just the new frontier of media. And I think a great way to differentiate yourself from all of the other podcasts that are out there, especially in your space, is to find ways to bring people together around it. And you can monetize that through things like Patreon. Or you can create a Discord channel, or you can become active in a meaningful way on social media. But finding ways to like create an experience for your listeners in as many ways as possible, and maybe that is clubhouse or fireside. I don't use those either, so I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think that's a great way to bring people into your podcast who might choose another podcast, like if they have a chance to get to know you and get to know other people in your community. That's a huge draw, and I think we're only going to have more tools to do that in the future, and it's up to podcasters to figure out how to use them and make the most of them.
Caroline Yeah, for sure. What do you do, Alli? Like, do you have any kind of community aspect with your podcast?
Alli Yeah, I have a Patreon that's become pretty, pretty great and pretty engaged right now. I have a free book club there. Mind, I'm not sure that we're going to continue that just because we seem to have a lot of people moving over to the Patreon options. But I have been so amazed by the community that's been built in just a couple of months on Patreon. We have lots of different gatherings and events and ways to get involved, and so it's also nice to give people an opportunity to support you, even if it's a dollar per month, like whatever you're comfortable with. And if you put in a little extra time to provide content or experiences for those patrons, I think it does a lot to make people feel like they're experiencing your show or your brand. And, you know, my podcast isn't like a marketing tool for a business, so I understand that it might be different. But even if you're using your podcast to market your business, offering some kind of exclusive content for them and opening up a space for them to talk specifically about what's happening on the show, I think that brings people in.
Caroline Yeah, my wheels are turning actually like hearing you talk about it because I've always like, kind of gotten stuck about where podcasters you are. Not necessarily, they don't have it as part of the marketing, but they're just podcasting and creating a business or a community around that. I think there's kind of a different approach, but I feel like they're somewhere in the middle where we can kind of combine both. So I may have to do some more brainstorming on that because as you were talking, I was like thinking, there's probably things that we can do, even as business owners who have podcasts as part of our marketing to create a more engaging experience that's beyond social media or a Facebook group. I love that.
Alyssa N. I think to just like one thing to keep in mind is like as specific as you can get while still being able to like, come up with regular episodes for your podcast is really, really useful. Like the really big podcasts like Serial and the news podcast and all of that stuff are just kind of from what I can tell it, like a gateway into podcasting for most people, you know, like they might start with something really broad, but it doesn't take very long for people to start to get very specific with their podcast interests. Like I know Alli, like your book podcast has like a pretty specific lens that it goes through. And like, I started listening to a different book podcast yesterday that's like specifically a young adult fantasy romance novels written in like the last five years, you know, and they have like a ton of episodes and there's a lot there. So, you know, like it doesn't have to be that specific, but the more like narrow you can be, the easier it's going to be for people to find you and to be able to, like, recommend you too.
Caroline And I think that's key as podcasting continues to grow. Like, we started out by saying, like, what makes a successful podcaster? And, you know, we're kind of back to it because as this industry gets more saturated and it will eventually. But you know, if you were to compare numbers to like YouTube and stuff, podcasting still isn't there. There's still so much room. But as it does continue to grow, I think you're absolutely right, like carving out the space for yourself and deciding what that's going to be. Even if you're a business owner and so thinking about like, what makes your business unique, what makes your approach to what you do unique and then putting that into the podcast and and sticking with it, right? Sticking with it. Niching down, focusing on your listeners. I think that's what's going to keep you from getting lost in the crowd, so to speak.
Alyssa N. Those specific interests are not going to go away, either. Like, if you can build up your audience in that particular category, you're not going to get overwhelmed by new big podcast because you know, the ones that are going to be backed by large media corporations and stuff like they're going to be built for really broad audiences. And if you can narrow down it, you're always going to have an advantage.
Caroline So when we think about like the future of the podcasting apps and things like that, going back to the show notes, one of the things that I think is going to become more and more important is those show notes and those titles. You know, the way that apps are searching content is changing all the time, and every app is searching differently, which is so fascinating. And my goal and hope for the future is that one day we will have some kind of standardization so we can really optimize that. But I think as the apps continue to update and work on these things, this is going to be something that's going to become more and more important. And so again, just making sure that you are paying attention to those things, I think is going to become important as podcasts grow. So this has been really fun. I'm so glad that you guys came on and I just hit my desk. I will stop. I I think that we should do this again sometime because I love having you guys to chat. And it's it's so interesting to get all of your perspectives on this because we're all deep into it, working on these podcasts every day. And so, yeah, if you're listening to this and you have a question that you would like the team to tackle, let me know. I would love to. Maybe this can be like an every three months thing or something where we can come on and answer some questions about podcasts from our listeners and our clients. So thank you guys so much again for coming on the show. Thank you, Alli and Alyssa and Alyssa and Lacey and Erin and Claire, who are here, and I'm going to put everybody's links in the show notes. Well, I'm not the shownotes writer, as she will put all the links in the show notes anything that we've talked about. And then, of course, linking to. If there's anything that you guys want to link to, we will link to you so people can learn more about you. And of course, please check out our website WildHomePodcasting.com on our About page, you can see everybody's lovely faces, which I will link to as well. I won't link to it. Sorry, the show notes writer will link to it. Let's be real here. Thank you all so much, and I hope you have a wonderful day.
Thank you so much for listening to this episode. I had such a great time talking podcast with my team. We all work virtually so we don't necessarily get to sit and chat very often, and it was just so much fun and just listening to it back again, it just reminded me how lucky and just blessed I am to have them on my team and working so hard behind the scenes at HP. If you have a question that you would like the team to answer because I loved this episode so much, I think we're going to have to do it again. I would love for you to submit your questions and you can do that by going to WildHomePodcasting.com/AskWHP, and we will be sure to put that link in the show notes. You can click it and go straight there and submit your questions. And if it's something that's maybe a little more timely, go ahead and submit it because maybe we can do some one on one interviews. Who knows? I feel like this is opening so many doors and thank you again for listening, and I'll be back with another episode next week.
Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. To stay in the know, head to WildHomePodcasting.com and be sure to connect with me on Instagram @WildHomePodcasting. See you next week!
